Philanthrocapitalism_ How Giving Can Save the World - Matthew Bishop [20]
People are now willing to be tested, because the drugs are there, and they know they will get the care they need, and that they will not be lost along the way.
This is my first visit to America and my first time traveling outside of Lesotho. It was a long journey, but I was happy to make it, because I wanted to tell you my story. I look to a future of hope.
Tsepang’s gift of time is priceless, not only because of the work she does, but because of the power of her example—a person who chose not to be consumed by her misfortune but to stand on its shoulders and lift others up. We now have 650 people working against HIV/AIDS around the world. None of them makes much money. And more than a hundred of them—from America, Europe, and the host countries—have worked for no salary, just transportation and room and board. Their gifts of time have helped save countless lives.
There are many well-established organizations like Doctors Without Borders and the Peace Corps that give people the chance to serve full-time for a limited period. I am particularly proud of AmeriCorps, which offers young people the chance to do one or two years of grassroots service activities, from tutoring to environmental protection to emergency response, with minimal compensation plus a grant to help defray the cost of a college education. Since it was established in 1994 under the leadership of a great social entrepreneur, the late Eli Segal, more than 500,000 people have served in AmeriCorps service programs. After I left office, I helped the largest AmeriCorps program, Boston-based City Year, to establish a branch in Little Rock, which is headquartered in one of my foundation buildings, and another in South Africa, where some two hundred white and black South Africans are building a common future by meeting today’s needs. The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund also helped create a new City Year branch in New Orleans to provide young people with a way to help the city rebuild.
After I left office, I felt so strongly about encouraging full-time givers that I worked with the University of Arkansas to establish a graduate school of public service. Located next to my presidential library, it is the only graduate school in the United States offering a masters of public service degree, which I hope will lead to service careers in the NGO, government, or private sectors. Besides the academic work, all the students participate in public-service projects ranging from local efforts in the Mississippi River Delta to international internships across the world, from Bolivia to Sudan to Vietnam. To give more young people a chance to participate in our work, Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinko’s, and his wife, Natalie, generous givers themselves, have endowed a fellowship for University of Southern California graduates in business, law, and public policy to spend a year working with my foundation in the hope that they too will be inspired to pursue long-term service careers.
MOST PEOPLE WHO want to volunteer have more limited time. For more than twenty years, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps has involved young people in community-service programs during school breaks, after school, and in response to natural disasters. For those who can give an hour or two per week, there are tutoring needs in every community that both adults and young people can meet. Adults can mentor young people as Big Brothers or Big Sisters, which have affiliates in most larger communities. Many cities and towns have parks, playgrounds, and conservation projects that need help.
Almost all facilities that serve large numbers of the general public depend heavily on volunteers. Many older Americans have more free time, and find this kind of service rewarding. Whenever I visit a hospital, I find myself looking for the senior volunteers who run the gift shops, help the visitors,